Abra Lee (born 1978) is an American public

horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and writer, who researches Black garden history and raises awareness of the subject through social media.

Career

Lee graduated from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture. She has worked in a number of horticultural roles, including: with the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

as a County Extension Agent for Fulton County; as Landscape Manager for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; as a horticulturalist at

George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Initially named Houston Intercontinental Airport upon its opening in 1969, it was renamed in ho ...

; as a municipal arborist at City of Atlanta Department of Parks. As of 2021, Lee worked as a freelance horticultural writer and lecturer, for institutions such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centre,

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Smithsonian Gardens The Smithsonian Gardens, a division of the Smithsonian Institution, is responsible for the "landscapes, interiorscapes, and horticulture-related collections and exhibits", which serve as an outdoor extension of the Smithsonian's museums and learn ...

, and others. Her work seeks to break down the barriers that prevent black people participating in horticulture. She does this through researching and highlighting the lives of Black women in horticulture, from antebellum history to the present day. Lee says that the "beautiful thing about Black garden history is that it can't be separated from Black history and it can't be separated from American history". She founded the social media platform ''Conquer the Soil'', which raises horticultural awareness through Black garden history and current events. Lee was selected a 2019-20

Longwood Gardens Longwood Gardens is a public garden that consists of more than 1,100 acres (445 hectares; 4.45 km2) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in the Brandywine Creek Valley in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of the premier ...

Fellow. As part of her fellowship she travelled to

Château de Villandry The Château de Villandry is a grand country house located in Villandry, in the ''département'' of Indre-et-Loire, France. It is especially known for its beautiful gardens. History The lands where an ancient fortress once stood were known as ...

where she researched lesser known histories of the garden, as well as supporting a curatorial project which compared the lives of Ann Coleman Carvallo at Château Villandry and

Anne Spencer Anne Bethel Spencer (born Bannister; February 6, 1882 – July 27, 1975) was an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. She was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance, also known as New Negro Movement, the N ...

of Lynchburg. Her first book ''Conquer the Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country's Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers'' is due to be published in 2022 by

Indigo Books InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market share as of April 2025. It is t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Abra Living people Auburn University alumni Women horticulturists and gardeners Writers from Atlanta Arborists American social media influencers American garden writers 1978 births